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National Public Service Award

Co-sponsored by ASPA and the National Academy of Public Administration, the National Public Service Awards honor individuals who make outstanding contributions and whose accomplishments are models of exemplary public service for those dedicated to the public good—now and in the future.

Award winners are selected from all levels of public service: local, state and federal governments, as well as international and public service nonprofit organizations. Awards are not made by category, so there could be, for example, two county winners and no winners from a state government. While individuals may hold a position in academia or a nonprofit organization, all recipients must have made significant contributions as career public servants in at least one level of government. Nominees holding elected office will be evaluated on the basis of their careers in public service, excluding time served as an elected official. Legislative branch staff are eligible, however legislators without public management experience should not be nominated. Nonprofit organizations are those with a service delivery mission. NPSA winners will be those who have, on a sustained basis, done some or all of the following:

  • Made a profound difference in improving service to the public
  • Been willing to take risks to achieve change
  • Fostered a more democratic society
  • Served as a champion of social equity
  • Changed the way a governmental organization operates so that it better achieves its goals
  • Achieved substantial savings in government
  • Developed a cadre of other government leaders

Visit ASPA's Site for More Details

Previous Winners

2022
Sylvia Mathews Burwell
Hung Cao
William Leighty
James Shuler

2021

Maria (Sandy) Matava (Suffolk University)
James Mayer (California Forward)

2020

Miguel Marquez (Santa Clara County)
Sean O’Keefe (Syracuse University)
Jennifer Riggle (Health Resources Services Administration)
P. Benjamin Smith (Indian Health Service)

2019

Thomas Becker
Hon. Barbara Favola
Jessica Ross
Hon. Anthony Williams

2018

Adm. William McRaven (ret.)
Susan Raufer
Gen. Mark Welsh, III (ret.)

2017

Marc Ott - Executive Director, ICMA
Max Stier - Founding President and CEO, Partnership for Public Service

2016

Andrew Kleine - City of Baltimore, Maryland
Captain Joseph Stenger - United States Air Force and Flying Scarfs

2015

Bill Johnson - Secretary of Commerce, State of Florida; Director, Enterprise Florida
David Warm - Executive Director, Mid-America Regional Council

2014

Ronald Bates - City Manager, Pico Rivera, Calif.
Thomas Prendergast - CEO/Chairman, New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (NYMTA)
John F. Shirey - City Manager, Sacramento, Calif.

2013

Kevin Duggan - West Coast Regional Director for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA)
Elizabeth Fretwell - City Manager, Las Vegas Nevada
Warren Gove - Director of Enterprise Computing Center, Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Jacqueline Simon - Public Policy Director, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE - CIO)

2012

Donald J. Borut - Executive Director, National League of Cities
Nani A. Colorett - Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget, Department of the Treasury
Patricia Dalton - Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Government Accountability Office
Alina Tejeda Hudak - Deputy Mayor/County Manager, Miami-Dade County
Thomas H. Warren Sr. - President and Chief Executive Officer, Urban League of Nebraska

2011

Joyce A. Adkins - Commander, 633d Medical Operations Squadron, Langley AFB, Virginia
Lester P. Claravall - Child Labor Coordinator, Oklahoma Department of Labor

2010

Ted A. Gaebler - City Manager, Rancho Cordova, California
Sallyanne Harper - Chief Administrative Officer/Chief Financial Officer, Government Accountability Office
John Berry - Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Kenneth H. Kraemer, MD - Chief, DNA Repair Section in the Demartology Branch, CCR, NCI
Bernard K. Melekian - Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice

2008

Theresa Parker - Executive Director, California Housing Finance Agency
David Smith - County Administrator, Maricopa County, Arizona

2007

Peter M. Blumberg - Head of the Molecular Mechanisms of Tumor Promotion Section, National Cancer Institute
Barbara S. Dorf - Director, Office of Departmental Grants Management and Oversight, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
James E. Hartwell - Program Manager, U.S. Air Force Hurlburt Field
Thomas H. Muehlenbeck - City Manager, Plano, Texas
Mark A. Pisano - Executive Director, Southern California Association of Governments

2006

Joan W. Bauerlein - Director, Aviation Research & Development, Federal Aviation Administration
Annabelle T. Lockhart - Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Civil Rights Center
L. Ralph Mecham - Executive Director, California Legislative Analyst's Office
Jane G. Pisano - President and Director, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

2005

Frank A. Fairbanks - City Manager, City of Phoenix
Maria Gomez - Assistant Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Human Services, Child and Family Services
Elizabeth Hill - Executive Director, California Legislative Analyst's Office
M. Peter McPherson - Director, Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa

2004

Daniel Fitzpatrick - City Manager, Peeksskill, New York
Donna Gambrell - Deputy Director, Compliance and Consumer Protection Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Kay Goodwin - Secretary of Education & The Arts, State of West Virginia
Howard Hendrick - Director, Department of Human Services, State of Oklahoma

2003

Sheila W. Beckett - Executive Director, Employee Retirement Systems of Texas
Gene L. Dodaro - Chief Operating Officer, U.S. General Accounting Office
David E. Janssen - Chief Administrative Officer, County of Los Angeles, California
Larry G. Massanari - Philadephia Regional Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Merrett R. Stierheim - Superintendent, Miami-Dade County Public Schools

2002

J. Jarrett Clinton - Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), U.S. Department of Defense
John F. Irby - Director, Federal Facilities Division, Real Estate and Facilities; Directorate, Department of Defense
Paul Lynch - Assistant Commissioner, Business Peformance Public Building Service, U.S. General Services Administration
Patricia Pileggi - chief of Special Prosecutions, US. Attoney's Office
J. Alex Valdez - Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Department of Health

2001

Paul D. Barnes - Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources, U.S Social Security Administration
Alexander Briseno - City Manager, San Antonio, Texas
David Gaspar - Director, Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections
Jane M. Kenny - Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
James M. Serif - Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protetction

2000

Walter D. Broadnax - Dean, School of Public Affairs, American University
Gloria J. Cousar - Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Assisted Housing Delivery, US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Vola Lawson - City Manager, City of Alexandria, Virginia
Richard Y. Stevens - County Manager, Wake County, North Carolina
Helen H. Taylor - Associate Commissioner, Head Start Bureau Administration of Children, Youth & Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

1999

Kathleen A. Buto - Director, Healthcare Financing Administration
Ray E. Corpuz Jr. - City Manager, City of Tacoma, Washington
Annette M. Sandberg - Chief Washington State Patrol
George C. Sinnott - Commissioner, New York Department of Civil Service
Robert S. Winokur - Assistant Administrator, Satellite & Information Services, NOAA

1998

William Barron - Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor
Thomas Eichler - Cabinet Secretary, Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families
Joan Furey - Director, Center for women Veterans, Department of Veteran Affairs
William Kilmartin - State Comptroller, Massachusetts
Eleanor Spector - Director of Defense Procurement

1997

Wendy H. Baldwin - Deputy Director, Extramural Reseach, National Institutes of Health
David O. Cooke - Director of Administration and Management, Office of Secretary of Defense
Oscar Jackson Jr. - Administrator, Department of Human Resources, State of Oklahoma
Lane B. Ramsey - County Administrator, Chesterfield County, Virginia

1996

Ruth R. Crone - Executive Director, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
Barbara D Matula - Director, Division of Medical Assistance, North Carolina Department of Human Resources
William R. McLucas - Director, Division of Enforcement, Securities and Exchange Commission
Roger J. O'Neill, Jr. - City Manager, Hampton, Virginia
John Ware - City Manager, City of Dallas, Texas

1995

Israel Brooks Jr. - United States Marshals Service
William Drayton - President, Ashoka; Innovations for the Public
Grace A. Kilbane - Lead, One-Stop Career Center Initiative, U.S. Department of Labor
Edwin B. Silverman - State Refugee Coordinator, Illinois Department of Public Aid
Bruce Vladeck - Administrator, Health Care Financing Administrator

1994

Tom Allison - Director, Division of Corrections Orange County, Florida
Robert L. Armstrong - President and CEO, Omaha Housing Authority
Eleanor Chelimsky - Assistant Comptroller, General for Program Evaluation, U.S. General Accounting Office
Ruth L. Kirschstein - Deputy Director, National Institutes of Health
Marvin M. Siflinger - Executive Director, Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency

1993

N. Burton Attico - Director, Maternal Child Health Program Phoenix Area, Indian Health Service
Daniel E. Sweat Jr. - Project Coordinator, The Atlanta Project The Carter Center
Carol M. Fay - District Director, Internal Revenue Service, Salt Lake City, Utah
Harry P. Hatry - Director, State and Local Government Research, The Urban Institute
John Stewart - Executive Director, Consortium of Research Institutions, Knoxville, Tennessee

1992

Camille Cates Barnett - City Manager, Austin Texas
Steven C. Bishop - Chief, Police Department, Kansas City, Missouri
Harry S. Havens - Assistant Comptroller General, U.S. General Accounting Office
J. Michael Quinlan - Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons
Donna E. Shalala - Chancellor, University of Wisconsin at Madison

1991

Alvin L. Brooks - Director for Human Relations, Kansas City, Missouri
Frank C. Conahan - Assistant Comptroller General, U.S. General Accounting Office
Diana Lam - Superintendent, Chelsea School System
Robert H. Mcclain Jr. - Undersecretary of Administration and Finance, State of Massachusetts
Michael J. Murphy - Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Internal Revenue Service

1990

Marvin Andrews - City Manager, City of Phoenix, Arizona
William Barreda - Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Trade and Investment Policy
David Chu - Assistant Director for National Security and International Affairs
Nina Rothchild - Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Employee Relations
Gordon Sherman - Commissioner, Social Security/Atlanta Region

1989

Lee P. Brown - Chief of Police, City of Houston, Texas
Anthony Fauci, M.D. - Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Rosslyn S. Kleeman - Director, Federal Workorce Future Group, U.S. General Accounting Office
Dean L. Macris - Director of Planning, City and County of San Francisco, California
Marcia C. Pops - Chief Probation Officer, West Virginia Circuit Court
Thomas D. Morris - Retired, Special Assistant to the Comptroller General (special recognition award)

1988

Janet M. Hively - Deputy to the May, City of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Robert E. Lamb - Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security
Bishop L. Robinson - Secretary, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services
Jule Sugarman - Secretary, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
Paul A. Volcker - Chair, National Commission on The Public Service

1987

Randall C. Bacon - Director, Department of Social Services, San Diego County, California
Carl F. Bianchi - Administrative Director, Director of the Courts, State of Idaho
Howard M. Messner - Assistant Administrator for Administration and Resource Management, Environmental Protection Agency
William J. Pitstick - Executive Director, North Central Texas Council of Governments
Terrence A. Todman - U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Odilon Long, Peace Corps Volunteer (Recipient of special recognition award)

1986

Alan F. Kiepper - General Manager, Metropolitan Transit Authority, Harris County, Texas
Donald L. McCune - Managing Director - International Fertilizer Development Center, Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Martha A. Mcsteen - Acting Commissioner, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland
Sally R. Reed - County Executive, Santa Clara County, California
Esther C. Wunnicke - Commissioner, Alaska Department of Natural Resources

1985

John E. Dever - City Manager, Long Beach, California
Joseph L. Fisher - Secretary of Human Resources, Commonwealth of Virginia
Claiborne Haughton Jr. - Director, Civilian Equality Opportunity Programs, Department of Defense
Michael V. Reagen - Commissioner, Iowa Department of Human Services
Joel D. Valdez - City Manager, Tucson, Arizona

1984

Wayne F. Anderson - Secretary of Administration and Commerce, Commonwealth of Virginia
R. Alexander Grant - Associate Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Food and Drug Administration
Robert A. Kipp - City Manager, Kansas City, Missouri
Dewey Willard Knight - Assistant Manager, Metropolitan Dade County, Miami, Florida
Alice M. Rivlin - Director, Congressional Budget Office

1983

Charles L. Dempsey - Inspector General, Department of Housing and Urban Development
Bradford Morse - Administrator, United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
Sylvester Murray - City Manager, Cincinnati, Ohio
Janet L. Norwood - Commissioner of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor
David H. Pingree - Secretary, Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services

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